Cloudscape Comics 1n the community

» Vancouver group immerses city in comic goodness

Cheryl Minns

. Arts Editor
Marts
@theotherpress.ca

 

[es of readers searching for :
: to new cultures or remind

: them of their homeland, with

: comics about Paris, Ireland,

: Japan, Copenhagen, Thailand,

: Guadalajara, and more.

new comics, the Cloudscape
Comics Society is bringing
original comics to readers. Until
October 5, Comics in Transit
will adorn 10 bus shelters across
Vancouver with one-page comic
posters depicting city life in
different cultures.

“It seemed like a great venue
to take what is inherently in book
format out into the public sphere
so that people would be able
to enjoy it in their daily lives,”
said Oliver McTavish-Wisden,
Cloudscape president.

He came up with the idea
of Comics in Transit when
he discovered the City of
Vancouver's Transit Shelter
Advertising Program, which
offers free advertising space
to non-profit arts and culture
organizations that can produce
their own posters.

“Comics in Transit should
appeal to everyone, especially
students, because they’re going
to be the ones taking the bus and
reading these things. Hopefully

: they’ll spread the word and

: maybe we'll be able to continue
: this project in the future,” he

: said.

The comics were created as

: a way to introduce Vancouver's

multi-cultural bus ridership

“I thought they’d like a

: glimpse into what cities are like

: around the world,” McTavish-

: Wisden said. “Some of them

: might recognize their own cities
: that they’ve come from, or they

: might learn a bit about their

: neighbours, or learn about the

: kind of people they’re taking the
: bus with.”

One of the comics,

: Otsukarésama by Nina

: Matsumoto, follows a girl as

: she rides the Tokyo subway

: and notices the passengers

: around her are asleep after a

: long day. The comic explains

: through words and illustrations

: the meaning of the Japanese

: expression otsukarésama,

: which acknowledges when an

: individual is tired from hard

: work, and shows appreciation for
: their effort. The comic concludes
: with the girl sharing the phrase

: with the passengers before she
: departs.

Along with introducing

: readers to different cultures,

: Cloudscape is taking readers

: back in time with their latest

: graphic novel anthology, Epic

: Canadiana #2. Based on the

: original Canadian comic books
: made during World War II

: when Canada banned any

: non-essential imports, the

: Epic Canadiana anthologies

: explore the stories of Canadian
: characters and superheroes.

“There were a lot of

: cartoonists who were very

: nostalgic of that time when we

: actually had our own comic book
? companies and our own comic

: book characters,” said Bevan

: Thomas, Cloudscape’s publicity

: manager, who led the team that

: created the first Epic Canadiana.

“There are a few people who

: have re-published some of those
: old Canadian books, but Bevan

: wanted to make his own new

: universe,” McTavish-Wisden said.

Epic Canadiana began as

: an eBook that didn’t draw as

: much attention as the printed

: Cloudscape anthologies. But

: thanks to a publishing grant that
: required Cloudscape to publish

: three books to qualify, Epic

: Canadiana was printed to meet

: the quota, and then spawned a
: sequel.

“In the Epic Canadiana

: series, all of the stories are

: in the same universe and

: reference each other. We've got

: continuing characters and we

: also have new characters. One

: character superhero is autistic.

: It was written by an autistic

: cartoonist and ended up being

: really interesting,” Thomas

: said about Epic Canadiana #2.

: “We've expanded the style of the
: stories: there are period pieces

: of Colonial Canada, future

: stories, World War II stories, and
: modern stories. We worked hard
: to present diversity of characters:
: male and female, Aboriginal

: characters, and immigrant

: characters.’

The anthology was partly

: funded by the supporters

: of Cloudscape’s Kickstarter

: campaign, which raised over

: $3,600 from more than 85

: backers when it concluded on
: September 14.

“The exciting thing is that

: Epic Canadiana really opened

: the door for Cloudscape to be

: doing new things. That was the
: first one where we were doing

: anything different from our

: regular anthologies,’ Thomas

: said. “After Epic Canadiana

: #2, we're going to be pushing

: forward some graphic novels

: from the individual Cloudscape
: members where they’re the sole
: artist.”

The upcoming graphic

novels, which will have

: Kickstarter campaigns before the
: end of the year, include Kathleen
: Gros’ Last Night at Wormwood

: High and Steve LeCouilliard’s

: Una the Blade.

Comic fans and artists

: are encouraged to drop by

: Cloudscape’s weekly open

: meetings on Wednesday nights

: at 7:30 p.m. at Cloudscape HQ,

: located at Memorial South Park
: at 5955 Ross Street in Vancouver.

“We're a very fun

: organization,’ McTavish-Wisden
: said. “I encourage anyone who
: makes artwork to come by.”

As part of BC Culture Days,

: Cloudscape will be hosting a

: workshop on how to make mini-
: comics from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

: on September 26 at Cloudscape

: HQ. The all-ages workshop will

: explore what goes into creating

: acomic book, such as writing,

: character design, layout, inking,
: and production.

For more information on

: Cloudscape projects and events,
: check out their website at
: CloudscapeComics.com

 

Animesque: More like bore-zerk

» ‘Berserk: Egg of the King’ review

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

OOOO

erserk began its life as a

medieval fantasy manga
penned by Kentaro Miura.
Through its 20-year history, its
stories have been adapted into an
anime series, two video games,
and, most recently, a feature film
by Studio 4°C. Berserk: Egg of the
King was my introduction to the
franchise. Sadly, I couldn’t have
picked a worse jumping-on point
if I tried.

I can hear your cries of
disbelief. Berserk: Egg of the King
has war and fantasy, which I like.
But it has little else beyond that.
It suffers from setup syndrome
since it’s the first film of a trilogy.
It spends a lot of time introducing
characters who become relevant
only much later on. Even the
climax of the movie is used
to introduce a new character.

As such, it feels like the story
happens almost at random.

There is a plot, of course.
After sustaining mortal injuries,
mercenary Guts is forced into the

: service of Griffith, a charismatic

: warlord. As Guts helps Griffith’s

: mercenary group the Band of the
: Hawk achieve major victories,

: Griffith angles to get political

: power within the kingdom he

: serves even as his mercenaries

: help that kingdom expand. There
: is some ominous stuff about Guts
: being pursued by demons, but

: there’s not much payoff since,

> once again, this is only the first

: chapter.

The most memorable

: moment of Berserk: Egg of the

: King comes right at the beginning
: whena placid view of a blue sky is
: marred by catapult fire, showing

: an ancient battlefield from the

: perspective of the dead. It’s a

: strong opening for Guts that is
darkly poetic: he’s a dead man

: walking without friends or family.
: Fora moment I was drawn in, but
: the following sloppily animated

: slege sequence with its badly

: textured 3D animation failed

: entirely to advance my interest.

Don’t get me wrong—Berserk:

: Egg of the King’s traditional 2D
> animation is beautiful, fluid,

: and detailed. But whenever the
: action happens, the film uses

: inexplicably bad 3D. It’s not

: ReBoot levels of awful, but it looks
: like someone wrapped simple 2D

: textures around stilted 3D models.
: I was reminded of an early cel

: shaded Nintendo Wii title.

An even bigger problem

: with Berserk: Egg of the King is

: its pacing. The runtime is only 70

: minutes, but the film feels longer

: than The Dark Knight trilogy.

: The unconvincing action climax

: comes about 20 minutes before

: the end credits, leaving a bunch of

: plodding setup that should have

: been relegated to the opening of

: the inevitable second film. There

: is some blunt foreshadowing for

: Griffith’s obvious future betrayal,

: but it fails as an emotional

: climax because his character arc

: isrevealed from the moment he

: first appears. Asa result, the film

: doesn’t end so much as it runs out
: of gas. Between the bad pacing, :
: poor CGI effects, overblown battle :
: failed.

scenes and unsatisfying ending, |

 

=
3
G
wn
°
&
vo
4
oD
2
Q
a
Oo
Gq
vo
vo
ra
Oo
vn

: felt like I was watching a freakish
: hybrid of the Hobbit trilogy and

: Evangelion 1.0.

Fans will probably say I

: disliked the movie because I’m

: not invested in Berserk. They'll say
: the series is better. They'll insist

: that the manga will blow me away.
: But it doesn’t matter if the source

: material is better, because this

> was Studio 4°C’s chance to get me

invested in Guts’ journey, and they